Inter survive United onslaught

Both Inter and United had opportunities to score,and United will be disappointed they failed to get an away goal after letting a number of chances slip by in both halves. Inter started apprehensively,but improved in the second half. Inter coach Jose Mourinho added extra attackers late in the match,but couldnt make a breakthrough.

Cristiano Ronaldo caused Inter goalkeeper Julio Cesar problems with a late free kick,but the defence scrambled the ball to safety. Ryan Giggs missed the best chances of the game,while Ronaldo and Dimitar Berbatov also let solid opportunities go.

Disappointed

I think that it is obviously a disappointment we havent won the game,thats for sure, United manager Alex Ferguson said. But in a two leg match the next one is at Old Trafford and our record there is good and we have a chance to win the match. In front of our own fans thats what we must we must do. Obviously the match isnt finished,but we still have a great chance to win the match.

Mourinho said he felt that the game could have been better handled by referee Luis Medina Cantalejo and was pleased to finish with a draw. If we have a referee who gives so much protection to the away team,well go to the quarter-finals, the Portuguese coach said. Not going to Manchester behind is a result,because they had better intensity and speed than us. Their players played well on the counter attack,but they didnt score. My team controlled them very well. It will be a very difficult second leg.

Ronaldo came close to opening the scoring in the fifth minute when he reached Giggss corner first,but his header was saved by Cesar. Then,Ronaldos cross was missed by the Inters centre backs and fell to the Welshman,but Inter recovered and cleared for a corner. Having failed to adequately clear the danger,Berbatov beat Rivas Lopez to Patrice Evras cross,but his header went narrowly wide.

Inters best chances came when the front pair of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Adriano put pressure on United central defenders Rio Ferdinand and Johnny Evans.

Ferguson brought on Wayne Rooney for Park with 10 minutes remaining,but his efforts failed to spark his team mates,though Ronaldo gave Inter one last scare when Cesar made a mess of stopping his late free kick.

Missed chances

Arsenal wasted chances for a far bigger margin of victory. Van Persie scored from the spot in the 37th minute after he had been tripped by Roma defender Philippe Mexes.

Nicklas Bendtner squandered two opportunities and Emmanuel Eboue wasted another as Arsenal missed out on a more convincing win,while John Arne Riise almost equalised for Roma.

I am happy with our performance but there was room to score more, said Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger. One of the positives of the result is that we didnt concede a goal. We had one chance after another early in the second half. When we tired in the final 20 minutes you could see that Roma could be dangerous as well.